This is our kōwhai in what I’m fairly sure is only its second year in bloom. As you can see, this lovely legume pushed the boat out – so much so, in fact, that we had frequent visits from tūī, which was delightful.
Interesting Times
Slighting a castle sounds like peering over your glasses at it and saying “well I don’t think much of that”. The actual process of slighting a castle, however, is much more…vigorous. To translate it into Kiwi English, it is the munting of the castle. To translate it into more cosmopolitan English, it is the partial destruction of the castle to a) make it unusable for castley purposes, and b) make it plain that whoever’s castle this was, they lost.
Nature’s Freaks, Fancies, and Fascinations
Woodlice, also known as slaters, are also known by about 25 “common” names in English alone, not counting woodlouse. These range from the understandable – pill bugs, wood bugs, armadillo bugs – to the frankly odd – cheesy bobs, fat pigs, and boat-builder. Many of the names refer to their ability to conglobate (i.e. assume a globular shape) but it turns out that not all kinds of woodlice can even do that.
The female woodlouse has a marsupium (external holder for unfinished baby chuggy pigs), which might lead one to suppose that they are marsupials, but no! They are in fact crustaceans – as in seafood. They even taste of seafood. Except for the species which are high in uric acid, which taste strongly of pee. (You have been warned.) In keeping with their crustacean nature, they breathe through gills. In their legs.
And Now For Someone Completely Different
“Imaginary evil is romantic and varied; real evil is gloomy, monotonous, barren, boring. Imaginary good is boring; real good is always new, marvellous, intoxicating.”
Simone Weil
Latest Library Loot
If you enjoy the kind of mysteries which are strong on alibis and figuring out not only whodunnit but how on earth they worked it, you will enjoy Freeman Wills Crofts’ Inspector French novels (and probably his non-French ones as well). I recently read James Tarrant, Adventurer, a cautionary tale for any young woman considering stretching a point or two with her conscience in the hope of gaining commitment from the man she loves.
The Confession of Brother Haluin is one of Ellis Peters’ Cadfael mysteries, in which a man’s near death sets him on a path to unknowingly stir up long-settled layers of lies and tangled family connections.
In a totally different genre, Foliage for the Contemporary New Zealand Garden by Julian Matthews is a useful book – well-illustrated, with advice on conditions and companions, and by no means only suitable for gardens in a modern style.
By My Own Hand Or None
This year I thought I’d exercise my extremely nascent drawing skills by participating in Inktober, an annual challenge in which people make ink drawings throughout October. You can probably see where this is going…
For Your Consideration
Query: is there a vaguely civilized way to eat a seaweed snack (i.e. rectangle of nori) measuring 6cm by 8.5cm by paper-thin and easily crumbled?